Originally posted by Richard Harnack I answered "probably not", with the qualifier "If I did it correctly". Of course I also teach "Brick Wall Aikido", as in if an attacker comes charging at me and I step out of the way and they run into a brick wall, then whatever happens to them is on them. Of course if I were fully Aiki, I would most likely have to redirect them away from the brick wall so that they would not get hurt.

Maybe it should be another poll:

Do you believe that moving out of the way and allowing your opponent to become injured (ala the "brick wall" defense) is morally superior to taking proactive defensive action (ala the "smack them in the nose" technique)?

My hunch is that most people will say "yes", although I tend to think "no" myself. Either way you perform an action and the opponent is injured as a result of that action. Either way the injury would not have occurred if the opponent had not chosen to attack.